Five story lines to watch as IndyCar season opens in St. Petersburg

INDIANAPOLIS — With the season-opening race at St. Petersburg just a few days away, let’s take a look at five of the biggest story lines heading into the Verizon IndyCar Series season:

IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden (21) heads into turn one during Carb Day for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 27, 2016.

Can Team Penske finish 1-2-3-4?

In short, absolutely.

Not only did Penske run roughshod through the series last season, winning 10 of 16 races (including four of the first five) and 11 poles en route to a 1-2-3-8 finish in the final points standings, it might have gotten better.

The team returns the drivers who finished 1-2-3 while replacing Juan Pablo Montoya with the man who finished fourth last year: Josef Newgarden. Just 26, Newgarden is one of the most talented young drivers in the sport and joins the most dominant team in the series. This could be the year everything comes together for the rising American star, who has his sights set on the Borg-Warner Trophy and a series title.

Of course, if anyone is going to prevent Newgarden from reaching those milestones, it very likely could be one of his new teammates. Helio Castroneves, who will turn 42 in May and is entering his 20th season, is sick of being this era’s bridesmaid. He has finished in the top five 13 times — including third last year — without winning a championship.

“That ends this year,” Castroneves said earlier this week. “It has to.”

On Team Penske, that leaves the 2014 champion (and 2015 runner-up) in Will Power and, of course, defending series champion Simon Pagenaud, who scored five wins and 10 top-10 finishes last year.

So can they sweep the top four spots? Absolutely. In fact, crazy as it might sound, betting against them might be foolish.

Carlos Munoz (26) passes Josef Newgarden (21) late in the race during the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 last May.

Honda vs. Chevrolet

Since Chevrolet returned to the series in 2012, it has steamrolled Honda, winning 59 of 84 races, four of five driver championships — including the past three — and owning the top three spots in the standings three years running. Chevrolet aero kits have proven far superior on street and road courses and short ovals in a series that runs more than a dozen races per season on those tracks.

However, when it comes to the biggest race of the season, Honda has enjoyed a leg up — at least recently. With Alexander Rossi’s victory in the 100th Indianapolis 500, Honda has produced three of the past five champions in the circuit’s premier event. Last year, it claimed the top two spots with Rossi and Carlos Munoz.

Still, Chevrolet’s overall advantage has been overwhelming. However, there’s reason to believe this season could produce more parity. After a three-year run with Chevrolet, series power Chip Ganassi Racing has returned to Honda.

Nineteen-year IndyCar veteran and Ganassi driver Tony Kanaan said his team’s shift will add some needed spice to the season.

“I think it’s going to be the biggest battle of the year,” said Kanaan, who finished seventh in the series in 2016. “Chevy has won the manufacturer’s championship (five years in a row), so Honda is not happy about that, and that’s probably one of the reasons that we’re back with them. That’s going to be their goal.

“It’s better for (media). You have more stories to tell and more competition — there’s going to be more rivalries, and (it’s good) for the fans, too. So I think it will be big.”

Alexander Rossi poses for photos following the unveiling of his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

What’s next?

With the 100th Indy 500 in the rearview, IndyCar has turned its focus to the future with its “What’s Next?” campaign. The idea is to begin looking forward to the next 100 years by promoting the sport’s up-and-coming stars — a list that is highlighted by Rossi (25 years old), Conor Daly (25), Newgarden (26) Graham Rahal (28), James Hinchcliffe (30) and Pagenaud (32).

Though the sport is in no rush to lose its elder statesmen and fan favorites (Castroneves and Kanaan to name two), it already has begun to make a concerted effort to put its younger drivers in the spotlight. Look no further than Hinchcliffe’s successful run on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars last year. ABC broadcasts five of the 17 races.

“One of the big motivators for wanting to do it was to help get IndyCar in the prime-time limelight, and I think we did that a bit,” said Hinchcliffe, who also appeared on an episode of Celebrity Family Feud along with Daly. “We were around long enough on that show that people started to care, and hopefully that translates into more fans tuning in on TV and hopefully showing up at the racetrack.”

Of course, “What’s Next” is about more than just the drivers …

An artist’s sketches of the 2018 aerokit concepts for IndyCar.

Look out for the new car

Sleeker and sexier. That’s what IndyCar hopes fans will think of its new retro chic race car, which will debut in 2018 and be used through 2020.

The initial concepts, which outline the bodywork that will cover the Dallara IR-12 chassis, were revealed in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The primary change will be that the downforce will originate from the undercarriage instead of the wings on top, many of which will disappear. This alteration is designed not only to make the car look sleeker and sexier but also to produce more passing, as drivers will not deal with as much turbulence when closing in on opponents.

Needless to say, the new car is going over well with drivers.

“I haven’t seen the finished product by any means, but I think it looks pretty awesome,” Rahal said. “I’m excited about it. For me, it’s more like what I feel an IndyCar should look like.”

Will there be a 500 hangover?

Early indications are that the hangover from the 100th running of the 500 will be minimal at most.

Last week, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said to expect another mega-crowd come the end of May. While matching last year’s sellout of 350,000-plus fans likely won’t happen, Boles said IMS will host “well north of 250,000” people for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

While other motor sports have experienced a dip in TV ratings and race attendance in recent years, IndyCar has managed to grow. According to Nielson Media Research, an average of 1.28 million viewers tuned in to watch last year’s 16 races. That’s up from 1.14 million in 2015 and 989,000 in 2014.

That momentum seems to have carried into this season. During the Phoenix test, IndyCar officials reported a 10 percent uptick in visits to its website and 592,435 visor-cam views compared to 82,652 in 2015.

Of course, IndyCar’s rebound needs to be put in perspective. Ratings and attendance sagged heading into 2014 and are still a fraction of what NASCAR draws. Still, most people around the sport seem to think IndyCar is heading in the right direction.

“I believe in the series,” Kanaan said. “I believe that actually every series is struggling. If you think about NASCAR doing everything they can to bring race fans back to the track and the TV numbers up, so we’ve just got to keep working. I believe that we have a great series with great competition, so we will definitely need to keep working to keep going on the rise.”

Ayello writes for the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.